Apparatus for making carpet cushions



Aug. 27, 1935. A. L. CLEMENTS I APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPET CUSHIONSFiled March 2, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTQR BYML-K M ATTORNEYS Aug.27, 1935. A. L. CLEMENTS APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPET CUSHIONS FiledMarch 2, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 \Q N -i E Q in .w Q M a v F: mm mm 9% N vw m 6 ll 1 w; am 0 e 0 N w M a N M w o & R R n\ ma & R mu E ATTORNEYSAug. 27, 193. A. L CLEMENTS APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPET CUSHIONS FiledMarch 2, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEY3 Mm m\\ \w @N MN Aug,27, 935. A. L. CLEMENTS APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPET CUSHIONS Filed March2, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 CE mm mm mm mm mm 3 awnin INVENTOR @m i? M wfiaa ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 27, 1935 APPARATUS FOR MAKING CARPET VCUSHIONS Arthur L. Clements, Chicago, ill, assignor to American Hair 8;Felt Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application March2, 1934, Serial No. 713,650

10 Claims.

The invention relates to an apparatus for making carpet cushions orunderliners for carpets, rugs, etc., and more particularly Where suchcushion has a cellular structure on both sides thereof. it

Ordinarily, where one side of the cushion is plain, it is a simplematter to feed the cushion.

material to and remove it from the felting apparatus, but whereimpressions are given to both sides of the material, special problemsare involved in presenting the cushion material to the felter plates andthereafter removing the finished material from the same and particularlywhere ,the material is handled 'as a continuous web. According to thisinvention the material to be felted is introduced between the felterplates upon a conveyor which is bodily movable, in Whole or in part,into and out of the space between the felt-er plates, and the finishedmaterial is thereafter moved out from between the ielt'er plates whilean unfelted section connected thereto is .positioned between saidplates.

The invention further consists in the apparatus as hereinafter set forthand more particularly defined byclaimscat the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a portion of an apparatus. embodyingthe invention, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 1A is .a View similar to Fig. l and is .a continuation thereof,parts being :broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus embodying theinvention, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2A is a view similar to Fig. 2 and a continuation thereof, partsbeing broken away;

Fig. 8 is a detail side elevation view ofa portion of theapparatusshowing the conveyor drive;

Fig. 4 is a half plan view of the portionof the apparatus embodying theconveyor, parts being broken away;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectionalgview taken on the line -.5.%iof Fig; 3; I

Fig. .6 is a detail sectional yiewitaken on the Fig. 7 is a detail :sideel vat n ew of th felter plates after the removalbf the feedin means; Ir I Fig. 8 is a detail plan view of part of one of the felter plates.

- The cushioning material may be made up of bats of animal hair or othersuitable feltable fibres or mixtures of animal hair and other fibrespreferably disposed on opposite sides of an intermediate reinforce ofcoarse rnesh fabric, such as burlap, with adhesive between said bats andburlap as more particularly set forth in U. S. Patent No. 1,598,221dated September 9, 182% to Alfred E. Gallagher; or said bats may besecured to said fabric by a preliminary punching operation. The materialforming the cushion in the present instance is shown in rolls in Fig. 1,the rolls M desighating the bats of feltable fibres and the roll I theintermediate reinforcement. These materials are unwound from theirrollers as the making of the cushion material progresses and fed intothe space between the felter plates of the felting apparatus and afterbeing felted, the fin ished material is taken out of the machine andcarried up on a delivery belt R to a suitable place of deposit.

The felting. apparatus includes a relatively stationary plate iii and avibratory plate ll disposed above and movable relative to saidstationary plate. Each of these plates has grooves 12 cut in its face,so ,as to form elevations and depressions in the material being felted,and since each of the plates form such elevations and depressions thematerial after the felting operation will be interlocked with one ofsaid plates until forcibly released therefrom. The elevations anddepressions on one plate are preferably offset from those oftheotherplate, so that in the completed material the ridges formed by theelevated portions of the,=material moons of its surfaces will beoffsetj'or staggered with reference to the ridges on its oppositesurface. The plates til and H are usually hollow castings and heatedwith steam introduced therein from any suitable source through suitablepipe connections. The upper plate iz-l shown in Figs. 1 and 1A assuspended by links i3 connected to bars ill, each of the bars beingconnected to an hydraulically operated member if having a piston itworking in a cylinder. ll, so thatsaid plate maybe raised andlowcred,said plate bein conne t d y ec ent ic straps 18160 e ntric l9 on prtatable shaftfiil- The rotationof saidshait will throu h the 6.0053 1:

tries l9 and their connections to the plate l 8 impart a vibratory orreciprocatory motion to said plate.

For advancing the material into position between the felter plates illand H for their action thereon, I have provided a conveyor which in thepresent instance includes a travelling frame 2i provided with spacedsets of grooved wheels 22 running on spaced rails 23. This frame hasshafts 23, 24, and 25 suitably journalled thereon, the shaft 24 carryinga roller 26 disposed adjacent to roller 2'5 suitably journalled in saidframe. The frame also carries a series of transversely disposed rollers28, and one of these rollers is mounted at the front of the conveyorframe and the take-up or tension roller 29 is mounted at the rear ofsaid frame. An endless conveyor 30 runs over the rollers 26, 2?, and 29.The roller 29 is journalled on a shaft having a gear 3! at each endmeshing with a rack 32 at the same ends and urged rearwardly along saidracks 32 by the connection of a link 33 at each end of said rollercarrying shaft with one end of a lever 53% pivoted intermediate its endsto the frame at 35 and engaging at its other end with a tension spring36 adjustably secured under tension by a rod 3? passing through the endsof both levers 35 and threaded to receive the tension adjusting nuts 38.

Shafts 39 and 4B are mounted on the fixed frame ll of themachine andcarry sprockets 42, and 53. The shaft 23carries sprockets i4 and 45. Theshaft 25 carries sprockets 66 and 4'3. The shaft 2 has a pair ofsprockets 28 and 45 mounted on a hub 5-3 connected to the shaft 24through an over-running clutch hereinafter described, and said shaftalso has a sprocket 5i keyed thereon, these last named sprockets beingshown more in detail in Fig. 5. A reversible electric motor 52 isconnected by sprockets 53, 54, and chain 55 with the transmissionshaft-56 carrying a sprocket 5i and an endless drive chain 58 runs overthe sprocket 5i, sprockets Z2, M, 48, 46, and 43 and also over an idlersprocket 59. It is to be noted that this chain runs over the underportion of the sprocket (i8 and over the upper part of sprockets M and4:6. A rack chain 60 is fixed at its ends 6! and E2 to the fixed frameof the machine and meshes with the sprockets 55, 49, and ll, said chainengaging the under portion of the sprockets 55 and 47 and the upperportion of the sprocket &9. An endless chain 63 engages sprockets 64 andalso the sprocket 5| on the shaft 2 5 from which the chain is drivenwhen the shaft 2d is turned. The drive thus far described in connectionwith the conveyor is at one side of the machine and a similar drive fromthe shaft 56 for the shafts and rollers of the conveyor is provided bychains at the other side of the machine and similar to the chains 58,6t, and 63.

The over-running or one way clutch previously mentioned includes adriven portion 65 on the hub 5 for the sprockets as and $3, an actuator66 keyed to the shaft 2 5 and provided with recesses El having inclinedsurfaces 68, and rollers as mounted in said recesses and automaticallywedged between said surfaces and driven when said hub 5!! rotatesanti-clockwise as viewed in Fig.6.

With the above construction rotation of the shaft 56 in anti-clockwisedirection, by the drive fromthe motor 52, drives the chains 58 so as toturnthe sprockets l2, 44, and' lii in a similar direction and thusadvance them along the fixed chain or rack 60 and consequently move thewhole conveyor forwardly or toward the left as viewed in Figs. 1, 2, and3, the sprockets 49 and 8 under these conditions running freely.

The conveyor in advancing brings the materials M and I, to be feltedtogether, nto the space between the felter plates and when the conveyorreaches the end of its forward movement, a stop 7!] on the movableconveyor frame operates a stop switch lito stop the motor 52. Thereaftersuitable switch mechanism in the control box i2 reverses the drive ofthe motor 52, and this, through thecormections previously described,reverses the drive for the chains 58 and causes these chains to rotatethe sprockets i l and clockwise and the sprockets 4S and G9counter-clockwise, thereby producing an automatic engagement of the hubportion 50 for the sprockets 48 andllg through the clutch previouslydescribed, and thereby driving the shaft 25 and the sprockets 5! which,through the chains 63, drive the sprockets 8d and the rollers 28, sothat the endless conveyor 38 on the frame it is driven forwardly ortoward the left as the carriage or frame 26 moves rearwardly, theconveyor moving forwardly at the same speed as the carriage movesrearwardly, so that the material itself is not moved but is simplyallowed to drop from the conveyor onto the lower felter plate Hi. Therearward movement of the conveyor ceases when the stop it operates astop switch 13 to stop the motor 52. Thus in the above describedconstruction the whole conveyor is moved so as to bring a portionthereof into the space between the felter plates, and the materialthereon is deposited between said plates as the conveyor is moved out ofsaid space.

When the material to be felted has been deposited by the conveyor in thespace between the plates it and l l, the plate l l is lowered to aworking position and is started to vibrate on the rotation of the shaft28 and is kept in this state until the fibres of the material have beenfelted together to the desiredextent. Thereafter the plate 5 I throughoperation of the hydraulic jacks previously described is moved to itsraised position and this leaves the felted section of the material ininterlocked relation with the lower plate 5 8, the same being shown inthis position in Figs. 1 and 1A and means, now to be described, areprovided for disengaging the material from said plate.

The means for disengaging the felted material includes a stripper memberM forming a part of a support and conveyor including side frames 75 andtransversely extending material supporting members or bars l6 and tiebars ll, said frame members provided with grooved wheels 58 running onspaced rails or tracks that form a continuation of the rails 23. Theoperating plane of this conveyor is such that as the same is advancedtoward the right, when viewed in Fig. 1A, into the space between thefelter plates l l and it the member Hi will engage under the finishedfelted material and gradually lift and disengage the same from the lowerplate it as said conveyor continues to move toward the left and thematerial thus loosened from the plate i 63 is free to passover thestripper member is and be supported upon the supporting members e6, sothat when the who-1e felted section is loosened from the lower plate l0,it is supported by this conveyor whose forward'end is then in contactwith or close to the forward end of the feeding-in conveyor, so thatwhen said feeding-in conveyor ad-.

'fvances into the space between the felter plates,

the stripping conveyor will be moved out of said space and thus carrythe finished material with it,

.guide roller is disposed adjacent the lower end of the deliveryconveyor R. For moving the stripping conveyer on its stripping operationan endless drive chain 8%! is provided with drive lugs 8! adapted tointermittently and successively engage a stop 82 on the rear end portionof the Stripping conveyor, so that when the upper run of the chain 80 isdriven toward the right, one of the lugs 8| will engage the stop 82 ofthe conveyor and form a driving connection therewith which on furthermovement of the chain 8% will move the stripping conveyor forwardlysubstantially the same amount that the feeding-in conveyor movesrearwardly and into'a position in which the forward end of the strippingconveyor contacts with the forward end of the feeding-in conveyor. Thechain as runs over sprockets 83 on shafts 84, and one of these shaftshas a drive sprocket 85 mounted thereon connected by a chain 86 to thesprocket 81 on an intermediate shaft 88 carrying a large reductionsprocket s9 connected by chain Bil to a sprocket ti on the drive shaftof an electric motor 92. The drive for this motor is controlled throughsuitable connections from the control switch box #2, so that the motoris started after the felter plate l l is moved to a raised position andthe current to the motor is automatically shut off when the stripperconveyor has moved to disengage the material by the engagement of thestop 82 with a stop switch 93. The return movement of the strippingconveyor is effected by the movement of this conveyor by the feeding-inconveyor which pushes the last named stripping conveyor ahead of it assaid feeding-in conveyor moves into the space between the felter platesill and i l From the foregoing description it will be noted that thefelting material is produced by a continuous process in which successivesections of the material are subjected to the action of the felterplates and removed therefrom while the new material is being moved intoposition for action thereon. The material forming the cushion may belaid up upon the feeding-in conveyor by hand or may be supplied tothesame through suitable mechanism.

I desire is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited tothe specific details here inbefore set forth except in so far as suchlimitations are included in the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a conveyor for feeding material tobe felted into the space between said felter plates, and means distinctfrom said plates and movable between one of said plates and the feltedmaterial for loosening said material from said plate.

spaced from said plate.

3. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a carrierfor thematerial to befelted, means for moving apart of said carrier into the space betweensaid felter plates to position material therein and forremoving saidpart from said space, and means movable between one of said plates andthe, felted material for loosening said felted material from said plate.

4. The combination with .a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a conveyor for the material to befelted including an endless apron, means for moving a portion of saidapron into and out of the space between said felter plates, means fordriving said apron in a forward feeding direction as the apron is movedout of said space, and means, movable between one of said plates and thefelted material, for loosening said material from said plate.

5. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter. plates, of means for depositing material tobe felted in the space between said plates, means for stripping thefelted material from one of said plates, and means for supporting thematerial stripped from said plate, said supporting means being movableout of the space between said plates as material to be felted is movedinto the space between said plates.

6. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a conveyor for the material to befelted including a movable bed and a reciprocatory frame to carry saidbed into and out of feeding relation with said plates, means forreciprocating said frame, means for moving said bed as the frame ismoved out of feeding relation with said plates whereby to lay saidmaterial from said bed upon one of said plates, and means, movablebetween one of said plates and the felted material for loosening saidmaterial from said plate.

'7. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a carrier forthe material to befelted, means for moving said carrier to deposit said material betweensaid plates, stripping means movable between said plates to loosen thefelted material from one of them, said carrier moving means adapted tomove said stripping means in one direction.

8. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a feeding in carrier, a deliverycarrier, means for moving said feeding in carrier to deliver material tothe space between the plates while moving said delivery carrier withfelted material thereon out of said space, means for moving saiddelivery carrier into a material receiving position, and a stripperassociated with said delivery carrier for loosening the felted materialfrom one of said plates.

9. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a conveyor for the material to befelted including a movable bed and a reciprocatory frame to carry saidbed into and out of feeding relation with said plates, means for movingsaid bed as the frame is moved out of feeding relation with said plateswhereby to lay said material from said bedupon one of said plates,stripping means movable between one of said plates and the feltedmaterial, delivery means to receiv thestripped material; means formoving said delivery means into the space between said plates and to aposition adjacent said reciprocatory frame, said reciprocatory frame onits feeding in movement engaging said delivery means and moving itoutwardly.

10. The combination with a felting apparatus having oppositely disposedrelatively movable felter plates, of a conveyor for the material to be'10 felted including a movable bed and a reciprocatory frame to carrysaid bed into and out of feeding relation with said plates, drive meansfor said frame operable during the outstroke of said frame to move saidbed at the same speed as said frame but in the opposite direction andautomatically disconnectible from said bed during the instroke of saidframe, and means for removing the felted material from between saidplates.

' ARTHUR L. CLEMENTS.

